The Secret Garden
by Snowstar
Summary: Christine goes to England to live with her swedish relatives who owns a big estate with huge gardens, were Erik now works after the fall of the opera house. Rating just to be sure.
1. Daisy

Authors note: This story is inspired by the movie "The secret garden" from 1993. As always we all want the original story to end differently but we all know that we don't want it any other way than it already is. This is mostly based on the 2004 movie version. Enjoy!

>---

Fog. That was what she saw when she looked out through window at the English landscape, she was on her way to her uncle and aunt from Sweden, two people who she hadn't met in many years served now as the only ones she had to turn to now after that night in Paris.

Christine sighed, her breath turned cloudy in the carriage, her mind returning to him as it did every hour of every day. She had left Raoul and the Giry's for a life in Yorkshire, three little words that she one day had read in L'Epoque had made her more sad than she ever thought she would be. The fairy tale was over all hat was left was the cruel reality of death and sorrow. It had ended now, the music of the night.

It was past midnight now and Christine woke up from the sleep that had taken over her an hour ago. The carriage pulled over at her relatives estate, Karin and Carl Daàe were two people who had made their fortune in the florist business. A small smile graced Christine's lips as she stepped out of the carriage to greet the only family she had left now.

"Oh, little Christine, look at you, the image of your mother and father shines through you!" her aunt said happily as she wrapped her arms around her niece.

Her uncle greeted her the same way. "We should have written to each other more often, but you and Gustave moved around so much we lost the latest address, and since he passed away you have lived at Palais Garnier."

"Yes, I have, a hectic time that was."

"Oh, I can imagine with all that singing and dancing every day. But look at you, you have grown into a beautiful young woman, we have always hoped that you would come for a visit." Lena smiled at her and asked their servant to take care of Christine's luggage as they moved inside the chateau. Christine frowned her eyes, having a difficult time to see in the heavy fog.

"I know, can you believe this weather in June and everything" Carl said. "It reminds a little bit of home, doesn't it?"

"What?" Christine asked, thinking of the foggy lake beneath the opera house.

"Back home in Sweden" her uncle frowned.

"Oh" Christine sighed "Yes it does, a little."

Christine didn't take much notice at the beauty of the house, she was exhausted after the journey, the first thing she did when she entered her suite was lying down on the large bed.

"Oh, dear" Lena said and sat down on the bed beside her niece. "I know your tired after travelling by boat and train for so long, I shall have some food sent for you and a clean night-gown."

Christine only nodded in acceptance and started to remove her shoes as her aunt came back later again with a tray of food.

"Sorry it took so long. You think that your uncle would let me carry a tray? All the men in the Daàe family has always seen us women as fragile things."

Christine smiled as she grabbed her night-gown and went to the bathroom, a bath had been run for her and Lena helped her wash and comb her long hair, changing into the night-gown Christine went back to the bed determined to sleep.

"There, darling" Lena tucked her in "Is there anything else you need?"

Christine shook her head and picked up her book that had been unpacked and laid out on her bedside table, Lena immediately recognised the book of Little Lotte's adventures.

"You still have it? How nice you must let me read it sometime, it has been too long."

Christine looked down at the book then looked up at the Lena.

"Perhaps you would like to read for me now, aunt?" Christine said and gave the book to Lena who smiled and sat down by the bed with only one single candle to illuminate her vision. Christine's mind drifted of to her own adventures of the Angel of music. Thinking of his voice and how beautiful it had been.

Lena noticed that she had fallen asleep and bent over to kiss her niece's forehead and blew out the candle.

As she walked down the corridor from the room she looked out through one of the huge windows at a tall, dark figure that worked both night and day in the garden. If only he and Christine knew what was going on right know they would be greatly surprised. Lena smiled to herself and walked down to her and her husbands room for a few hours of sleep.

>---

The next morning the fog was over, the sun rose up and woke all the servants up from their sleep. Christine received help with dressing herself from the night-gown into a green velvet gown.

She walked down the grand stair to the dining room, where her relatives were enjoying their breakfast.

Her uncle looked up from his paper.

"Sit down, dearest, I trust you slept well?"

"Yes, thank you" she smiled shyly.

"Tea?"

"Yes, please."

"I suppose you want it the way your father always did, cream and sugar?" Carl said with his eyebrows raised.

"Yes, thank you" she replied, for the first time in weeks she felt like she was home.

"Christine, dear, you uncle and I are going away today, the tulip-season has started and we have to watch over it so you are free to do whatever you want."

"Fine, I think I shall spend some time outside the house."

"Oh, please do! The gardens, we have plenty of them, they are blossoming now, you have to see them!" Carl said and smiled with winked at his wife who knew what he meant with it.

They left about an hour later, Christine took her book and walked out to examine the gardens. They were very beautiful and carefully tended. She found a bench among some daises which served as a seat for her reading, as she came further more into the story she looked up as a familiar sound was heard.

It couldn't be? That voice! She jumped up from the bench and followed the sound, it seemed to come from everywhere, almost as if the flowers were singing and the bluebells were ringing. She ran from one garden to another only to find the voice escaping her the more she searched.

Then at last she found a huge wall of rosebushes, the voice seemed to come from behind it. No door were to be found, as she tried to find it the thorns stung her hands. Her eyes started to water with desperation and her heart beating in excitement.

After a while the voice and it's wonderful song had died away. Christine blinked back her tears and declared herself as insane and the voice as a hallucination. She walked back to the chateau and stayed in the library for the rest of the afternoon.

If only she had stayed a little, she would see him walk out from the hidden door. A man that had arrived to the estate a few weeks before she had, a man who knew her in so many ways and now worked as a gardener, a man...wearing a mask.

>---

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	2. Lily

The next morning Christine woke up from the touch of the sun on her face. She stretched and stood up, looking out through the window she gazed at the gardens, still remembering that voice she had heard from yesterday, a voice that could make any nightingale blush. The sun was shining today, making the raindrops, that had been falling down during the night, twinkle all over the flowers and the lawn.

Christine was pulled out from her thoughts when she heard the door open. A girl walked in, about the same age as she, with blond hair that was pulled up in two braids that had lately been pinned up at her head. She carried a tray with food that she putted down on the table.

"Good morning!" she smiled. "You must be Christine" she said in very wide Yorkshire-accent.

"Yes, and you are?" Christine asked.

"My name's Martha" she smiled even more. "I brought you some breakfast, your uncle and aunt told me to tell you that they will be away most of the day. When it turns to summer, people in the flower business always get their hands full."

Christine nodded, trying to understand the servant girl strange accent as much as she could.

"Let's get you dressed, miss, you probably want to spend the day outside in the garden. Maybe you'll meet that nice man that works there."

"Who?" Christine asked as her night-gown was being pulled up over her head.

"A strange but very handsome man, he works in the gardens all the times, I've only met him once, the only time he leaves the gardens behind is when he's going to eat and sleep." Martha said as she started to lace Christine's corset. "You better hold on to the bedpost, and tuck in your tummy."

Christine did as she was told, this was a nightmare that had turned into a habit since she was thirteen. Once the corset was a laced a big white dress with a flower pattern followed.

"Sit down and eat, you're thin as an envelop", Martha said. "I will do your hair while you eat."

Christine sat down and looked at the fruit and porridge that had been placed in front of her along with some tea, not like the breakfast's she had had in France that almost only consisted of sweets.

She started to eat, Martha came back with a hairbrush and a bunch of needles.

"Don't eat to fast, or else half of it will come up again" she smiled. "The Mr and Mrs said that you had been singing in Paris for some years."

Christine's face changed a little as she remembered her days at the opera.

"Yes, quite many years actually." Martha noticed the expression in her voice and the look of sadness in her eyes.

"There now, miss Christine, no reason to be sad or is there? When I heard that you were a singer, I thought that your mouth was constantly chatting."

This made Christine giggle, she started to notice how nice the English little lass was.

"There now" Martha said triumphantly "Your hair is finished and so is your breakfast, you must wear your hat today, it's very sunny."

Christine smiled in appreciation and thanked Martha. She went out to the garden once again and sat down at the same bench as yesterday. After an hour she stood up and rubbed her aching back and started to walk deeper inside the garden. Flowers were blossoming everywhere, they swayed with the wind so delicately.

Christine bent down to smell a group of lilies but was jerked up again by the sound of that voice again.

"_Early one morning just as the sun was rising,_

_I heard a maid sing in the valley below._

_Oh, don't deceive me, oh never leave me, _

_How could you use a poor maiden so?"_

It was an english folk song, but still the voice was unmistakably familiar. Christine stood and locked at the rose-covered wall, desperate to get in. Then to her right she saw a tall ladder, she dropped her book on the ground and ran over to, very clumsily, carry it back to where she had stood before.

She hiked her big skirt up with one hand and started to climb up the steps, it was harder that it looked like, especially with her quite high heels and the corset that squeezed her ribs together. Once up she looked down and almost fell over at the sight before her. Everything was filled with flowers and there was a pond with little ducklings swimming in it. But the thing that made her hold her breath was the owner of the voice that stood below her tending to a rosebush.

He wore a white shirt that was unbuttoned in the neck and black trousers, his hair was a little bit more free instead of tightly slicked back as it had been before, he was almost just as she remembered him. He looked so much younger standing there in more casual clothes and in such a natural and brightly lit environment.

"Erik" her lips formed the name but no sound emerged. Tears stared fill her eyes but her lips were smiling as they never had before, such exquisite happiness filled her heart.

She was suddenly pulled back to reality when she heard something buzzing in her ear, she looked up and saw a bee flying around her head. She started to wave it away but didn't notice that the ladder she was standing on was starting to fall, taking her with it. She squeaked and fell to the ground on a carpet of cornflowers.

Erik looked up to the sound of the fall and saw a lady's hat slowly flutter down in front of his feet, he picked it up and started to run for the door but when he opened it all he saw was the ladder that had fallen.

He raised his eyebrows in confusion and walked back to the hidden door in the rosewall, still holding the hat.

Christine run all she could and hid behind a lilac-tree, her head leaned against her hands that rested against the wood, she had seen him again! He was alive and singing just as before, tears now streamed down her face as she quietly sobbed. At least now she knew how to get into that secret garden that was behind the door, she walked back to the ladder and picked up her book that lay next to it. She could see the handle now, she reached for it, her hand grasped it but suddenly she released it and started to walk back to the house, she stopped in front of one of the fountains to wash her face from her crying.

Once finished she walked into the house again and ran back up to her room again, she searched through her belongings until she found her book about Little Lotte again. After the last page she saw the rose with the black ribbon around the stem that he had once given her, it was now pressed because of the pages but it still had some of it's fragrance left. She held it up under her nose and inhaled. All the memories flowed back to her now: the mirror, the lake with the boat, the mannequin with the wedding attire, the kiss... how she had wept over that kiss, his lips had been shaking against her own out of fear and happiness. Fear that she didn't love him as he did her and happiness because no one had ever kissed him before. It seemed like ages ago.

A single tear fell down her cheek as she placed the rose back in the book again. She wiped it away as she heard some one knock at the door.

"Come in" she said, trying to make her voice as steady as possible.

"Ah, I thought I saw you come running back, it's time for dinner very soon, but look at you, miss!" Martha smiled.

Christine frowned and looked down at her dress only to se parts of it covered with dirt and grass. She looked in the mirror and saw that her hair was all ruffed up with grass and flowers in it.

Martha laughed and started to unbutton her dress in the back.

"You better bath and clean yourself before dinner starts, I didn't expect you to drag back the entire garden with you." Christine blushed and looked down in embarrassment.

After the dinner Christine was back in bed but couldn't sleep, she had been lying awake for hours but sleep wouldn't claim her. She rose from the bed, draped her white cape around her shoulders and putted her shoes on.

She silently sneaked out from her room and walked as quiet as she could down he grand stair, the entire house was silent.

As she reached the door to exit the house she picked up a lantern that someone had left. She opened the heavy door and walked out.

It was pitch-dark only the moon and the lantern served as light now for her. A cuckoo, was heard and the bushes were rustling with bunnies.

At last she stood in front of the big wall with roses, they looked more dangerous now than in daylight.

She reached for the handle again, this time pushed it down and with a rustling noise the door opened, and walked inside the secret garden.

She walked down a stair made of stone and gasped as she saw the walls which shut it in, they were covered with climbing ivy, they were so thick and matted together. The ground was covered in soft green grass, and there were roses everywhere. White, pink and red bushes of them. The trees had roses climbing all over them and long tendrils that crept from one tree to another, creating curtains of them. Beautifully carved benches of stone stood in one place and two giant trees created a roof over them.

Daisies, lilies, orchids, tulips, forget-me-nots, lilacs, camellias and roses every flower you could imagine grazed the garden with it's beauty.

Christine smiled widely as continued to walk further into it, finally she stopped in front of a swing that hung from a chinese cherry-tree, the little ducklings were quacking in the pond.

She was just about to sit down in the swing when...

"Hello" someone whispered in her ear.

>---

Authors note: Ooooooh, cliffie huuuuuh? Please review.


	3. Forgetmenot

She immediately turned around and her chest made contact with another, she looked up and gazed into that green, familiar depth that was Erik's eyes. Her voice disappeared, only small dumbfounded sounds emerged and all she could do was to stand and gape at him. He was wearing his cloak, he looked so tall and frightening, she slowly started to shrink away from him.

"What, prey tell, mademoiselle Daáe, are you doing outside at this late hour in my garden?" with that voice that had always been in her dreams.

"I..I was just.." she knew how silly she must look, but she couldn't help it, here he was standing right in front of her just as dark and haunting as before.

"Wait, your garden?" she asked "This is my uncle and aunts garden, and what are you doing here, anyway?"

Erik smiled, she was still the same innocent little child that he had grown to love more and more every day. No sign of womanhood what so ever, perhaps the vicomte was out of the picture he thought triumphantly.

"Little Daáe, so much has happened since you left me for that ignorant fop of yours that I don't even know where to start." He backed away from her and she exhaled from the tension that had wrapped around.

He turned around gazed at the flowers that blossomed because of him.

"Erik, what happened that night?" she asked and slowly walked toward him but stopped as she saw his back tense the closer she got.

He took a deep breath and started his story.

"I escaped, the managers and the police broke into my home and destroyed everything, I waited for what must have been the entire night until they finally left. Everything was gone except something's. I left for London first were I started painting for some weeks out in the streets, until the rumour about the masked painter in London spread it's way to the french police who immediately arrived here to find me again." He stopped and turned around to look at here, it was such an exquisite thing, just to see her again and to be at the same place as her.

"Did they..." she started but was interrupted by the shaking of his head.

"No, of course not, you know me Christine, I would rather kill myself than be killed by society" he smiled a devilish smile that made shrills run up Christine's spine.

"I escaped once more and made my way up north until weakness took over me and I collapsed unconscious on a country road, then when I woke up I was tended by your uncle and aunt, they brought me here, they didn't care about my face or anything, they gave me the job as their gardener. And now you're here, I certainly didn't expect you to come."

"Didn't expect me to come?" she asked, turning angry. "Didn't you think of me at all when you found out that we have the same name?" Erik raised his eyebrows and looked at her.

"Of course I did, I just didn't expect you to come here at all, Carl and Lena said they hadn't seen you in nearly a decade."

"You, you told them that you knew me!" she nearly screamed out.

"Yes, I didn't tell them about you abandoning me and me murdering other people because of you, if that's what you're worrying your pretty head about" he smirked at her.

"Don't mock me" she said irritated. "Why didn't you expect me to come?" she asked later in a more gentle tone.

"What do you think?" he asked, his voice turning angry. "You left me for a foolish brat, a handsome foolish brat that I thought would surely please you as long as you lived with his money and charm" he said, annoyed that she didn't understand better. "By the way, why aren't you with him, enjoying your freedom from me? From the man with a face that is so... what was it you said again?" he slowly walked toward her. Her eyes widened, by each step he took the more and more dangerous he became, he frightened her just as much as he tempted her. She backed away from him but stopped as she felt a tree behind her back. He was so close now that she could feel his breath on her face.

"So distorted deformed it is hardly a face" he said reminding her of the cruel things she had said before. She closed her eyes and felt a few tears escape, she opened them again as she felt his thumb brush them away his eyes were suddenly gentle and caring.

"Did you hear us that night, at the roof?" she asked with a trembling voice.

He only nodded, his hand caressing her cheek, his eyes enchanted by her.

"I forgot how beautiful you are" he said so silently that it was merely a whisper. Christine smiled but the smile was replaced by a look of confusion when he suddenly turned around with his back facing her again. She heard his heavy breathing and saw the slight trembling of his shoulders.

"You hurt me, Christine, until then I didn't understood that the aching of love and compassion is a hundred times more painful than the aching of real physical pain."

Christine looked at his tall silhouette, how much had he suffered in his life? Raoul had told her of the story about the travelling fair that Madame Giry had told him the night after the masquerade.

Slowly walking over to him, she reached out her hand and touched his shoulder. He turned around and looked down at her, she was just as he remembered her, just as lovely and delicate.

"I was hurt too, don't you understand? When you told me to leave you after I had kissed you, I wanted nothing more than to stay with you."

Erik looked at her as if she was mad, he didn't dare to believe her.

"Finally when I was able to face you just as you are I had to leave you, Erik, I don't care if you believe me or not but just this once let me love you" she said with a tenderness that broke through his final barrier and his eyes became filled with tears.

She brought her arms around his neck and embraced him as she had never done before, he stood completely still, not knowing what to do. She took his arms in her hands and brought them up around her waist, his arms tightened around her and pulled her close to him, he buried his face in her neck and wept in her hair. Christine stroke his soft hair, she could feel the ribbons that held the mask in it's place, very slowly she started to untie them, later she felt how the mask released itself from his face and landed with a soft sound in the grass.

His face came up from her neck, looking her as the man he was, not a demon or an angel. Her hands came up and framed his cheeks, the left one was smooth and beautiful, the right one was the complete opposite, but she didn't care, there was no man as beautiful as Erik.

His own hands came up behind her head and pulled it forward t his own. His lips ever so softly touching hers. The memories of their first kiss came back to him, he had been so shocked that he hadn't been able to really response, deciding to take control of the situation one of his hands left her hand and slowly roamed down to her back where he pressed her up against himself, his other hand slowly massaged her scalp as her arms came up, once again, around his neck. His tongue plunged into her glorious mouth where it dances with her own.

Small sounds escaped Christine's throat as she experienced the most wonderful kiss in her entire life, never had she felt this way before, so much love and passion in one kiss it had to be unreal.

Finally they parted, her face was all flushed but the night was hiding it from Erik's eyes. She leaned her cheek against his chest, his shirt was partly open so the hairs from his chest tickled her. He smelled so heavenly, a mixture of male and nature. She could stay this way forever. He grabbed the edges of his cloak and wrapped both of them up in the warm cocoon. He leaned his cheek against her dark curls, they were so soft.

"If you only know how much I have missed you" he whispered "God, I love you, sweet Christine, the most beautiful creature the Lord has ever created."

Christine looked up and saw that he smiled, she smiled back at him and popped a little kiss on his mouth.

"I love you too, my angel of music, you have been in my dreams ever since we parted that night back in Paris."

They lay down in the soft grass with their arms around each other, looking up at the moon and the stars. Christine cuddled her face in his chest once again.

"How come you accepted to be a gardener? It's so different from the other things that you've done" she asked.

"Actually, my love, it isn't. Flowers are just as much art as anything is, but instead of painting them I grow them, I give them life. It's such a wonderful thing to do, to bring life to things when I have only brought death to them before."

Christine understood what he meant, it must be wonderful for him to be able to be outside with no one staring at him, to feel the rays of the sun stroke his face and to fell fresh air fill his lungs, yes, it must be wonderful.

"What happened with Raoul?" he asked. Christine was not that shocked about this question, probably because the answer was so simple.

"I couldn't stand it, being in that world of empty chatter and endless boredom, trying to live up to others expectations and his parents didn't like me because I was just a simple singer. Raoul turned different too, he and I started to argue quite a lot after we had left the opera house."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to go back" she could feel his eyes turn to her face and his lips kissing her temple. She was back here with him and she loved him! It was something he would never get used to. He would always protect her, guard her and guide her and she had finally saved him from his solitude.

They rose up from the ground and retrieved the lantern they had left by the swing, he escorted her out from the garden and gave her a good night kiss.

"I believe this is yours" he said later and held up her hat that she had dropped earlier that day. She smiled and took it.

"Where do you sleep?" she asked.

"In a little cottage that used to be the guest house before, but it's all mine now, it's right behind the other gardens."

"What about this then" she said and tapped with her hand on the door "Why did you say it was yours?"

"I found it when I first came here, it was locked up and hidden from the world but I found the key and I have made it my own. No one cares for it and no one ever goes in here except me. You can't suspect that there is a garden behind this rose wall" he said and Christine smirked at him.

"If you want to keep it secret then you should not sing so high while you work here, who knows what sort of person would find it?"

Erik smiled, understanding.

"But at least it brought me my angel back to me."

Christine embraced him once more and kissed him as if she would never see him again, but she would every day for the rest of her life, she promised herself that.

>---

Authors note: Sorry if my english is not the best, love and roses from Snowstar.


	4. Sunflower

Authors note: Sorry I've taken so long but I have had a vacation in Greece, swimming in the Mediterranean sea ...:) Well here is chapter four, enjoy...Snowstar!.

-- ---

Christine walked as quietly as she could back to her bedroom, her heart was pounding so hard that she was afraid that the sound of the pounding would wake people easier than the sound of her feet touching the marbled floor.

He was alive! It was an unbelievable thought, but he was! She wished she could have stayed with him out in the garden the rest of the night, or even better the rest of her life. Surprisingly loving Erik was not such an unfamiliar thing that she had thought it would be, it was as if she had longed for and imagined this kind of love ever since she was mature enough to think thoughts like these. She had known him almost her entire life, but at first only as her Angel of music and how could she help but become absolutely smitten with his voice that still, after all these years, held it's magical power over her. As the years passed by when she was young and still only a ballerina she'd learned that the voice of her Angel had a body, a soul and a face. She scolded herself for her shallowness once more but then again understood that it wasn't his face that had terrified her so ,but his temper.

Back up in bed again, she sighed with a smile on her lips as she lowered herself back against the luxurious pillows and, although it was hard, slept. Tomorrow was a new day, and she would meet him again.

-- ---

Erik wasn't sleeping that much either, being the night-animal that he was, he was lying awake in his bed in the cottage that served as his home. She was back in his life again, not that she had ever really left, his heart had always kept the image of her. But this time she was really back, and she loved him. It had come from her own lips. Those lips! The taste and feel of them! He licked his own, the taste of her was still there. He remembered how shocked he had been the first time she had kissed him, he had been just as shocked this one. A shocking experience that was always welcome, he thought for himself and smiled and finally he also slept.

_It was dark around him, and taking of the bad that was covering his face didn't help much either. He was tired and hungry. Somebody would come and feed him soon, all the guests had gone home. He had new scars on his back that burned and the coldness of the cage made even his blood freeze._

_A single candle came walking towards the cage, and later the human who held the candle became visible._

"_I thought you would be awake" she said, Erik recognised the old woman as one of them fortune-tellers all the young girls went to, to find out about their future love lives._

"_You must be hungry, you have had almost eighty performances, so to say, today." Erik started to put back the bag over his head but she stopped him._

"_I've seen tour face before, no need to hide." Erik stopped his motions and started to eat slowly. When he was finished the woman took the basket and started to leave but turned round towards the cage once more as she heard him crying. Her old heart couldn't help but feel sympathy for the poor creature and stepped inside the cage once again._

_She reached out her hand to softly stroke his back in a comforting way, that gentle gesture made him stop his sobbing and he turned towards her, looking at her confused._

"_Why are you crying?" she asked although the answer was pretty obvious. _

"_I don't want to be here, but I'll never be free from here" he said, his voice shaking slightly. Under the woman's watchful eyes he took a knife that had fallen from the basket and placed it over his wrist._

"_Are you mad?" she gasped and took the knife away from him._

"_Give it back, it's my ticket away from this hellhole" he said pleadingly. She shook her head and putted the knife in a pocket that was hidden in her skirt._

"_Everybody has something to live for" she said._

"_Not me, I have nothing" The old woman sighed and took his hand in hers. Erik looked at her confused as her eyes suddenly lit up._

"_You will not be here forever, you will in fact one day even leave this country." Erik's eyes became just as big as two plates and he nodded for her to continue._

"_Your lifeline is very strong so you will live for a long time, you will have a very creative life. There is also love here" At the word "love" Erik caught his breath in his throat._

"_Really?" he asked._

"_Yes, very strong love, she will love you for you, but it will have a bumpy ride, there is another thing here that says that you have a very easy way of scaring people, so I guess this tells me that you will have to be very careful with her."_

"_Who is she?" he asked, eager as a small boy._

"_An angel."_

_-- ---_

Erik woke up with the rays of the sun shining through the window, it was always such a wonderful thing to wake up with the light shining outside and knowing that he could go out and be a part of it.

After dressing and eating he went to his gardens again and started the normal routine, looking for weeds. Just as he had pulled up the last one another thing that was not a weed pulled him down in the grass and planted her lips against his. Parting, he looked up in the face that he loved so dearly and brought his hand up to bring it down again so he could kiss it.

"Good morning, Christine" he greeted her when his lips were free once again.

"Good morning" she answered and smiled at him with the sun shining behind her head, creating a halo around it.

'An angel, indeed' he thought as he looked up at her.

"You're beautiful" he said later as he stroked her cheek, his words made her blush and it made her even more lovelier to his eyes.

"So are you, I like it when you are dressed like this" she said as her fingertips stroked the visible part of his chest that the deep neckline of his shirt did not hide from her hungry eyes. Suddenly realising what she was doing she immediately removed her hand from him and sat up quite abruptly and turned her back to him.

Erik frowned for a moment but his smile returned later as he understood what she was shy about. He himself sat up, brought his arms around her waist and pulled her up in his lap.

"Was that a maidenly blush I just witnessed, my dear?" he asked teasingly. Christine slapped him playfully across his arm.

He brought his mouth close to her ear, kissing it's way down her neck then coming up the same way, nibbling her earlobe. Christine shivered a feel of his breath against her skin and his wonderful mouth made her moan senselessly. His hands started to roam freely over her body, her chest, softly caressing her breast, down her stomach and made their way under her skirts and stroked her soft thighs. Her breath became heavier and just as his hands were about to touch one of her most private places she stopped him.

"Erik, someone will se us" she whispered. Erik woke up from his dream world and brought his hands away from her.

"You're right, you should better get inside, I have work to do and your uncle and aunt will be worried if you are away to long" Christine nodded, agreeing but it was the best thing to do. She didn't want to leave him, the truth was that she wanted his hands caressing her once more.

Before leaving she kissed him passionately and mumbled something in Swedish.

"What?" Erik asked, amused.

"Jag älskar dig" she said more clearly.

"I've heard your relatives say that to one another a few times, what does it mean?" Christine smiled and brought her arms up around his neck and kissed him again.

"I love you" she said when they parted.

"I know that, I love you too, my angel, but what does it mean?"

"I love you" she said again and as Erik was about to open his mouth he closed it and smiled.

"In Swedish?" he asked and she nodded. Kissing him again, she rose and looked longingly back at him.

When he couldn't see her anymore he allowed himself to fall back against the soft grass and sighed full of happiness before he started to work again. He missed her already but would find a way to spend more time with her when the night came.


	5. Magnolia

Authors note: Thank you for all your wonderful reviews, sorry I've taken so long. Well, here's chapter five, enjoy )

-- ---

Full of passion and love, Christine rushed back and almost ran right into Martha at the door. The young girl stared at Christine who was completely flushed in her face.

"Goodness, miss. What have you been up to?" Christine couldn't answer that question but the smile on her lips and the sparkle in her eyes told Martha all she needed to know. She herself knew what it was like to meet a man and fall in love and all the excitement that followed.

"You should probably accompany your aunt and uncle in the library, they have an old acquaintance visiting them for tea right now." Christine nodded and headed of to the library but froze to the spot as she heard the voices talking inside.

"_We are so glad to see you again you have certainly grown since we last saw you"_ she heard her uncle say followed by a few chuckles.

"_What brings you to England now?"_ Lena said.

"_Well partly business and I heard that your niece was visiting, so I thought that I would stop by and say hello, you must remember how much we played when we were young."_

"_Of course we do, Vicomte"_ her uncle said and that made Christine's intake of breath was so high that she was surprised that the door hadn't followed with it. Obviously the people inside hadn't noticed and continued their conversation. Christine kneeled down and peeked through the keyhole.

It was Raoul. Unmistakably Raoul. What was he doing here?

Christine jerked back to reality when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Martha again.

"What is it Miss?" she asked. "Aren't you going to go insi..?" Christine putted her hand over Martha's mouth and hushed her. Obviously the people inside the library hadn't heard that either.

"Come" Christine whispered and grabbed Martha by the hand and ran upstairs to her suite with her.

Locking the door carefully behind her she turned to Martha.

"That's my former fiancée" she said and Martha's eyes widened.

"What? No one has ever said anything about you being engaged"

"Probably because I'm not anymore, it ended about five months ago."

Christine sat down and gestured to Martha to do the same. She told everything about her father dying, how she became a ballerina and then the prima donna of the Palais Garnier and of course Erik. Martha listened patiently and had tears shining in her eyes when Christine's story came to an end.

"Oh miss, I can only imagine how you feel now after losing that Erik." She said and pulled up a handkerchief from the pocket in her chaperon and dried her eyes.

"The thing is I haven't lost Erik, I have found him again" she said smiling.

"What? Where? When?" Martha asked.

"That man, you said, that is working in the gardens is my Erik. I met him the day after I arrived here and I still meet him, Martha." Christine looked at the girl. "I love him. I've been so blind and shallow all my life. My father and everybody around me kept me from thinking that even people with facial faults can be beautiful and amiable. It makes me believe that I was brought up the wrong way."

"I wouldn't say the wrong way, maybe not just the entire way when it comes to people. Ever sine I was born my mother taught me that even the most beautiful people can have a devil lurking inside of them and therefore you should never trust anybody you don't know. But you knew Erik even before you saw him."

"Yes but only as an angel" she sighed.

"They are the same person, he was only lying about his identity. Now what are you going to do about the Vicomte?"

"I don't know" she said. "I haven't seen him for months and now I don't know what to do." She leaned her face in her hands and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to close out all the thoughts that were spinning inside her head. She looked up at Martha once more.

"Oh, Martha...what would you do?" she asked.

Martha stood up and walked over to Christine, leaning down, her eyes meeting Christine's.

"Act like nothing" she said, curtsied and left the room.

-- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ---- ---

Christine walked down the stairs to the library, she would act like nothing.

As she entered the library the first thing she saw was Raoul's face that brightened up.

"Ah, there you are, dear!" her aunt greeted her "I'm sure you remember our old friend, the Vicomte de Chagny." Raoul had immediately grasped her hand and kissed it with such a force that he almost marked her for life. Afterwards his face lit up again, but Christine's remained unmoved.

"No, I'm afraid I don't" she simply said. Raoul's face turned from happiness to shock.

"But of course you remember, Christine?" he looked at her as if she was insane and maybe she was, she thought, then again no, she was only in love. And this time with a true man.

Without Christine noticing, Lena smiled briefly. She had never liked the de Chagny family, after all the years they had known each other, she and Carl had always felt a little sickness towards the posh and pride that the family bestowed, and the thought of her niece marrying one and be just the same was, frankly,...repulsive.

"Tea, dear?" Carl asked, trying to hide his amusement as well.

"Yes please, uncle" Christine replied and walked past the dumbfounded vicomte and sat down.

"So, Vicomte, how do you enjoy your staying in England so far?" Lena asked. Raoul raised his head from the tea and fired off one of his shiniest smiles.

"Brilliant so far, although the weather is tolerable for me but for my carriages" he shrugged " the wheels become all lumpy because of the rain."

"Fisförnäma tönt" Carl mumbled to himself.

"Excuse me?" Raoul asked.

"Oh nothing."

After over an hour of empty chattering Raoul decided to leave.

"I'll be back tomorrow once more" he said and bowed before he left. When they could hear the door to entrance close they all exhaled.

"Finally!" Carl said "He stayed so long I thought his rear end was glued onto the couch."

"Oh, Carl, language!" Lena said and slapped his arm and Christine giggled.

"I take it, you're glad he left also?" she asked her niece.

"Yes, I do remember him, the only thing is I don't want to remember him. Is it ill of me to think so?"

Carl raised his eyebrows. "No of course not, it's your own personal opinion, but your aunt and I agree, just look how he is strutting around with his head so high and how he invites himself in everywhere. He didn't even asked for our permission to have him here tomorrow."

That made Christine reflect the time he had practically ordered her to have supper with him after her first solo debut. That night was the first night she had met Erik. 'Erik' she thought for a second.

"Oh, lord, the sun is set already, you must have some food and then it's off to bed with you young lady." Her aunt fussed with her and made sure she was properly tucked in bed before midnight.

Midnight or not, Christine simply could not sleep. She stepped out off bed and gazed out through the window at the gardens. Without giving it a second thought, she grabbed her white cloak and made her way out to the gardens.

She could feel the heaviness in the air, it was about to rain. She entered the secret garden, shutting the door quietly behind her. She looked around but saw no sign of Erik. Deciding to wait for him she sat down in the swing and pressed her feet into the ground, pushing her and the swing up then letting go. She flew into the night breeze, a smile played upon her lips, it was years ago since she had been sitting on a swing. She remembered how her father had pushed her forward, making her laugh like the little child she had been, her feet kicking happily in the air and she had been shouting "Högre, högre!"

She was pulled back out of her thoughts as she heard the sky break over her head, she looked up and saw a lighting upon it. A few moments later the rain started to fall. Christine pulled her hood up and made her way to the door again, only to find it locked. She pushed with all her might but it would not move, by now she was soaked, she started shivering.

Suddenly she felt hand on her shoulder she turned around and saw her Angel standing behind her, she almost sobbed with relief.

"What on earth are you doing out here in the rain?" his voice was worried.

"I can't get the door open" she tried once more but the result was the same as before. Erik also tried but it found it just as difficult.

"It must have locked itself, I will deal with it tomorrow." Suddenly he realised that it was plenty of hours left before tomorrow arrived and Christine couldn't sleep outside in this weather.

"You are going to have to sleep at my home tonight" she that that was probably the only way to escape the rain, she nodded and took his hand that he offered. They walked into the depth of the garden until they stopped in front of one of the many ivy-covered walls. Erik pulled it aside and told her to walk through. When she was on the other side she saw the house, it was quite big for a cottage, it reminded her of a smaller version of he operahouse, without all the statues on it.

As they walked in they were greeted by the warmth from the fireplace that Erik had lit earlier that night. Christine felt his hands remove her cloak from her shoulders, but the rest of her clothes were also wet.

"You need to take a bath, before you catch your death. I will go and prepare one for you and while I do that you can get out of your clothes." Christine looked up, shocked by his choice of words.

"Um, what shall I sleep in?" she asked shyly. He walked over to a closet and pulled out a robe that he remembered, it was the same that he had worn the night she had pulled his mask off for the first time.

"Here, you can have this" he handed her the robe and she accepted it with a yawn that she was unable to hide. Erik saw it and smiled.

"I'll come back when your bath is finished" as he left he felt her hand take his arm, their eyes contacted as they had done so many times before.

"Thank you" she said, her hand moved up behind his neck and pulled his face down to hers and kissed him, the best way of showing her gratitude.

"You're welcome, as always" she giggled and felt his lips on hers again. When he went upstairs she started to undress. Her nightgown was completely soaked and her hair was dripping. She laid her clothes out in front of the fire and pulled the black velvet robe on, it smelled like Erik, masculine and mysterious. The velvet caressed her skin and she hugged herself, imagining that it was Erik himself that she hugged. The robe was definitely made for a taller person but she enjoyed wearing it.

Erik returned and informed her that the bath was ready. Christine walked up and rinsed of all the dirt that she had collected from the garden on her face and on her hands. Her body instantly warmed up as she lowered herself in the big tub. She closed her eyes and it reminded herself how tired she was. She got up and dried off, slipping into her angels robe again she made her way out. Erik stood outside and smiled at the sight of her small figure in his robe.

He opened the door that was opposite the bathroom. Christine gasped, all the furniture in this room came from his home in the operahouse. All the candelabras, the organ, the mirrors, the table with all his paintings and the huge bed that was shaped like a swan.

Erik saw her reaction. "Are you alright?"

"Yes" her voice was barely a whisper but thick with emotions. His arms came around her, he brought his hand up under her chin, facing her.

"What's the matter then?" he asked gently. Christine inhaled shakily, tears forming in her eyes.

"It feels like I'm home, with you by my side, like before." She buried her face against his chest and cried silently, his hands roamed over her back, comforting her. He picked her up and carried her to the bed, laying her down. As he stood up to leave the room he felt her hand taking his arm once more.

"Stay with me" she pleaded "I don't want to be without you anymore." As those words left her mouth, Erik couldn't help but love her now more than ever. He undressed, leaving his underwear on and lay down next to her, bringing the velvet sheet up to cover them. He opened his arms to her and she settled in, her head resting against his bare chest. He closed his eyes and inhaled the scent from her hair, he had dreamt about this moment so many times that now when it really happened it was more than he ever thought it could be, how he loved her!

"I should have never left you" she said her voice breaking into tears again.

"Shh" he whispered "You were just a child, I asked too much from you."

"The thought of this frightened me, I knew you loved me and wanted me, but I couldn't return the kind of love that you wanted from me, I didn't know how. How can you ever forgive me?" She looked up at him, tears falling down her cheeks that he brushed away with his fingers.

"I love you, Christine. No one has ever understood me the way you do and you have given me the thing that I have wished for my entire life. My love, responded."

Christine smiled through her tears, she kissed his chest, nuzzling against it she felt him kiss her forehead.

"Sleep now, my angel." He felt her lashes brush against his chest as she closed her eyes in exhaustion. Erik stayed awake a little more, memorising every look and feeling of this moment. She was sleeping peacefully, her back underneath his hands was rising in time with her breathing. She was soft and warm, he couldn't imagine his life without her anymore. They had know each other for so long and the thought of losing he again was torturing. She was going to be his in the way he had never had her before. To lay her beside her with her face pressed against his chest was undeniably arousing. He wanted her to belong to him forever, he wanted to marry her, create a family and life with her. He would ask her when the time was right.

Sleep finally claimed him. He spent the night holding the woman he loved with the rain pattering outside.


	6. Bluebell

Authors note: Hello darlings! Sorry I haven't been updating for a while but I have just moved from my apartment to another one and X-mas came so incredibly fast this year and who would have though that I would suffer from food poisoning in the middle of it? And I completely forgot to give you the translation for the Swedish terms in the previous chapter:

"Fisförnäma tönt": Snobby geek

"Högre, högre!": Higher, higher!

Anyway here is chapter six.

WARNING: Fluffluffluff...;)

-- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ---

Christine slowly opened her eyes to be met by the morning sunlight, she found herself lying on something smooth and rock hard, that something turned out to be Erik's chest. She smiled with a sigh and cuddled closer, locking up at him, he looked younger in the daylight, his hair, that had seemed so dark in the depths of the opera house, changed from black to a dark auburn colour as the sun gleamed down upon it. She propped herself up on her elbow to examine him closer. His face looked so relaxed she had never seen it like that before. The deformed side was hidden in the pillows, leaving only his left side for her to see, he was a very handsome man, dark eyebrows, long lashes, lush lips and green eyes with silvery reflexes in them that was looking up in her own.

"Do you enjoy what you see?" he asked and arched an eyebrow, making her giggle.

"Very much" she replied. He shifted position, his entire face became visible, her hand came up to caress his cheek, learning it's contours and shapes, Erik noticed how her eyes looked fascinated upon the deformity.

"Good, because if this doesn't scare you then nothing will." She immediately jerked out from her daydreaming, his words were hurting her.

"Do you think so low of yourself?" he didn't respond, the answer was evident in his eyes.

"Do you doubt my love for you?"

"No!" he answered immediately. "It's my ability to be worthy of you that I doubt".

Christine couldn't help buy smile, he seemed so childish when he was being insecure like this. She grabbed his hand and pulled him up in a sitting position, facing her.

"Don't be foolish and don't ever think those things, you are worthy of everything. I love you for you, nobody chooses were we will love." He couldn't help but smile at her last statement, she couldn't be more right.

"When did you become so wise, my love?" she smiled back, sitting on her knees so her face was at the same level as his and brought her arms around his neck.

"I learned from the best" she felt his arms come around her waist and his lips brush against her own.

"Do you remember the first time we kissed?" he asked after they had parted.

"Yes, very clearly, you were shaking."

"Was I?"

"Mhm", she nodded "but you were wonderful."

"How am I now then?" he asked and brought his hand up behind her head and pulled her lips towards his, kissing her so passionately that her eyes rolled back in her head. Releasing her he waited for her comment.

"You could do better" she said with a pretended unmoved look. He understood her meaning and claimed her lips once more, stroking them with his tongue, entering her mouth he caressed her tongue and played with it, leaving her breathless.

"A little weak for such a passionate soul" he couldn't help but chuckle. "You're teasing me, Angel."

"I know" she replied with her head held up high.

"Why?" he asked her sweetly.

"Because I love kissing you."

Once more he kissed her, his tongue plunging in her mouth again, this time he worshipped her mouth with it so intensely that her eyes widened in shock, her throat made little pleasured moans. And when she thought it couldn't get better his hands came up around her back and started caressing her buttocks and further down to her thighs, they burned through his robe that she was wearing.

Releasing her with both his mouth and his hands, he opened her eyes and saw her fall back against the mattress, her breathing came shallow and heavy. Forcing himself to get back his brain in function, Erik looked down at the most beautiful sight in the world.

"My, my, mademoiselle Daáe, I do believe you are speechless" he said as he lay down beside her. Her hands were resting upon her chest trying to relax the thunder in her heart. Her face was flushed and she wanted nothing more than him tearing the robe off from her.

His hands caressed her face and their lips were just about to meet again when his clock stroke eight, interrupting them.

"I'm sorry, my dear, but it's back to work." Christine was still trying to collect herself from the mind-blowing kisses. Finding strength to stand up she saw him pulling his trousers on.

"I'm sure your clothes from last night are dry, if you wait here I will get them for you."

He walked to the bathroom and returned a few minutes later dressed in his white shirt and had her clothes draped over one of his arms.

She took her clothes from him and suddenly her maidenly prudishness immediately surfaced and a slight blush started to take place on her cheeks, Erik noticed and smiled.

"I will leave you alone to dress, my dear."

As he closed the door behind him Christine exhaled without knowing when she had started to hold her breath. If he only knew the influences she received from him, no man had ever had this effect on her before. She remembered the chaste kisses from Raoul, some little amount o excitement had been there but no fire and heart throbbing passion had swallowed her wholly.

She started o remove his robe and noticed that her hands were trembling during the process. Would she ever be able to think properly after their kissing. Shaking her head, clearing her thought's she went out, dressed once more in her now dry nightgown, to meet the sunlight.

She saw Erik waiting for her downstairs, taking her hand he opened the door and led her back to the ivy-covered wall. Walking through she was greeted by all the roses, they had raindrops on their petals that glittered because of the light from the sun. She bent down in front of one of the white rosebushes and inhaled it's sweet fragrance.

Erik noticed how captivated she was by the beauty of the roses. White roses resembled her purity and virginity, pink roses reminded him of the little ballerina that she once was, red roses was the woman she was yet to become, it made him reflect back to the night when "Don Juan triumphant" had had it's premier. He had never seen her so...female, that was the right word, as she was that night.

Walking over, he bent down next to her.

"Do you like them?" he asked as he leaned closer to her, his mouth only an inch away from her ear.

"Yes, who wouldn't."

Without thinking further, Erik brought his hand out and picked one of the roses.

"Be careful" he said as he gave it to her "I don't want your pretty fingers to get any injuries from the thorns."

Christine smiled and brushed her fingers against his as she took it from him.

"I must return" she said and started to walk to the door. He followed her, she turned around to face him before she opened it.

"Thank you, for everything" she said, Erik lifted her chin up and made her look at him in the eyes before his lips once more met hers.

"I'll meet you again tonight" she whispered in his ear after they had parted.

"I'll be waiting".

-- ----- ----- ---

Christine opened the door quietly before she stepped in. But before she could do anything else she heard her aunts voice next to her.

"Ah there you are darling! I wondered where you had gone since I couldn't find you in your room."

"I-I-I was...just..."

"Never mind, dear, you must be famished. Come along and we'll have some tea."

"Where is uncle?" Christine asked as she sat down.

"Oh he went out for a hunt with a friend of his, personally I think it's because he doesn't want to be present when Monsieur le Vicomte returns for another one of his visits. But look at you, dearest!" Lena squealed out.

Christine looked like a question mark.

"What is it?"

"Your lips are all swollen"

Christine gasped and saw her reflection her spoon she was stirring the tea with. She turned ten shades redder than normal.

"Oh, nothing to be ashamed of, the same happened to me after my first kissing."

"What?"

"I know about you and that dashing Erik, despite the mask he's quite a dish isn't he? And you wouldn't be carrying one of his roses with you from that other garden if you hadn't been seeing each other now would you? " she chuckled, Christine's eyeballs almost popped out from their sockets, was her aunt ever going to stop surprising her?

"How?"

"Oh, darling, your father and I found him on the road when we were travelling back home from Nottingham, poor thing, he was practically on his deathbed if it hadn't been for us. You know how we can't stand to see other people suffer. Well minus that performance you had with the Vicomte the other day." She chuckled. "Erik was unconscious when we found him, I bet he hadn't been eating for days. And while he was unconscious he kept mumbling about a woman that he loved with your name and when he woke up, a few hours later after we had returned home, he immediately recognised our surname after we had introduced us."

"Really? What else did he say?" Christine asked, completely engulfed in Lena's story.

"He told me everything about you and how much he loved you and how he had taught you to sing. I must say he is a very nice man, whatever made you leave him?"

"Uhm, it's long story" her voice was a little hoarse.

"Is it true that you were engaged to the Vicomte?" Lena asked with her eyebrows raised.

"It is, but not anymore, I couldn't live the life he wanted me to live and I missed the opera so terribly."

"And, if you don't mind me asking you, what is going to happen to Erik now?"

"Oh, Lena, I love him, I've always loved him. I have been so shallow and foolish my entire life to see beyond the outside. When I left him for Raoul it felt as is a big part of myself had been left to."

Lena smiled, she could see her deceased sister in-law in her niece, so young and confused.

"Darling," she said as she placed one of her hands on Christine's knee "I can see he feels the same for you, love like this only comes once in a lifetime, I saw what happened to your father after you mother passed away, he was completely destroyed. But in the end he got you. Don't waste Erik, he's a good man. I know you have been sneaking out during the night's to see him."

Christine smiled through the tears that were starting to cloud her vision.

"Thank you, for being so understanding, Lena."

"Nothing to thank for, dearest, go to Erik and love him and be happy."

"Oh, what about Raoul then...?"

"Oh, don't worry about him" her aunt interrupted her and waved with her hands in front of her "I'll take care of him, your uncle always says that if chattering was a competitive sport, I would without a doubt be number one".

Christine laughed and proceeded with drinking her tea.


	7. Violet

Authors note: Stars in heaven! I hate 'other woman' fic's! Sorry that this took so long but I have the new Casanova-fic' on my hands, or on my screen that I simply couldn't waste, but I appreciate your patience and here is chapter seven! 0;)

Ten o'clock, and Christine still hadn't arrived. Erik was growing impatient, after that intoxicating wake up that he had received this morning he had started to count the hours before the evening came, not even music could keep his mind of from her. Today he had experienced the best morning of his life, how many times hadn't he dreamt about waking up next to her? If she only knew what she was doing to him, had always been doing to him. The day when he had seen her through new eyes was the day when he had seen her as a woman for the first time. She was fifteen and the knowledge that she was starting to blossom had escaped him until one day when he went to the dormitories to look after her. She had been all alone and started to remove her ballet costume. Erik had scolded himself at first for this perverted peeking as he hid in the shadows but he found he couldn't tear his eyes from her as she stood in only her corset and underwear's.

All of a sudden Christine had curves, rounded hips and a waist that belonged to a nymph, she was slim and her body was that of a goddess well toned and fit. His eyes had travelled up from her feet, past her hips and belly and suddenly froze as she started to remove her corset. She still wore her chemise but what had made Erik stare like an insane man was the small pair of buds that adorned her chest. Erik felt his breath quicken, his blood boil, his heart racing and more parts of his body had started to rouse. He suddenly realised that he was in love. He had never seen a woman like this, he had encountered many intercourses in the opera house but they had all seemed vulgar and inhuman, the fact that she wasn't entirely nude made her even more desirable, he imagined what she would look like in her naked glory. His imagination moved further as he imagined himself with her in bed, worshipping her, tasting her luscious mouth, smelling her sweet fragrance and touching her softness. Just the feel of her in his arms would be pure heaven and pure torture at the same time.

His dreams about her had increased more every day and not only had her voice become an addiction but she herself was like a drug to his senses. He had started drawing portraits of her, since he couldn't have her with him. He had always been quite possessive and was determined to have her for his own so the thought of marriage had came across his mind and he had designed a wedding dress especially for her. By lord he loved her, always had! But it wasn't until she turned sixteen and that blasted boy had become a threat after her grand debut that he decided to reveal himself.

The clock chimed eleven, and he couldn't stand it any more, he had been waiting long enough. If she wasn't coming to him he was coming to her. He made his way through the gardens and walked around the manor in order to find her room. He wore his cloak in case anybody would lay eyes on him. He stopped his walking when he saw a light coming from a room at one of the higher floors and out at a balcony stood his love in a nightgown and combed her hair which had been recently washed, allowing the soft night air dry it.

Erik smiled and admired his angel for a brief moment before she turned and started to go back inside.

Christine cursed her hair for taking so long time drying. Erik was waiting for her and the day had swept away too fast! She had been trying to hide herself during most of it in case Raoul would show up again and that hiding place had been in one of the many, dusty attics.

She felt the wind blow across the room for a second and turned around to find the doors to the balcony open. Odd, she thought she was certain that she had closed them. She closed them again, turned around and almost jumped out of her skin when she saw him standing completely calm, in her room!

"Oh, you scared the life out of me!" she said and placed her hand above her heart as if trying to relax it's beating. He was wearing his cloak and a white shirt which showed his chest partly and black trousers.

Erik didn't say anything, he just stepped forward, letting his cloak fall from his shoulders and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"How did you get up here?"

"I have my ways, Angel." He smiled and noticed how she trembled beneath his touch.

"Are you cold, my love?" he asked. If he only knew the effect he had on her, before she answered he swept her up in his arms and carried her to the bed. The fire was cracking peacefully. He sat down behind her on the bed and pulled her up in his lap. He took the comb that she still held in her hand and started combing her hair with long strokes that made her close her eyes in enjoyment, he braided it for her when it was a bit dryer, separating the thick mass into three and started to braid it. She sighed as he finished and leaned back against his chest.

"Why did you come here?" she asked.

"Why did you take so long?" he asked back.

Should she tell him that Raoul had been at the manor earlier? No, she decided. Sighing she explained why and that she had been at the attic almost the entire day, looking at old things from her childhood, which is one of the most dirtiest places in this house and a bath seemed in order afterwards. Erik chuckled and embraced from behind.

"I missed you, that's the reason why I decided to come."

"Really?"

"Mhm" he said and started massaging her shoulders. He close his eyes in enjoyment, embedding this moment in his senses, he buried his face in her hair and inhaled the flowery scent from her earlier bath. Only the fire and a few candles were illuminating the room.

Christine yawned and blushed afterwards.

"You are tired, Angel. Spending almost the entire day in the attic is exhausting, isn't it?" Christine understood that he was teasing her and she slapped him playfully across his arm.

"I shall leave you" he said and but Christine stopped him.

"No! Stay for a little longer and read for me" she begged.

"Read? Read what?" he asked and Christine grasped the book on the bedside table that was decorated with gold and cherubs playing instruments. "Little Lotte" said the title with large curving letters.

Erik kicked his shoes off and pulled the cover's over them, Christine was still leaning against his chest and relaxed.

He flipped through the pages and stopped when he noticed the pressed flower fall out from the book. He picked it up and immediately recognised it.

"But...?" he said and examined it closely. Christine looked up.

"I thought I crushed this at the roof."

"You did, it wasn't until the next day I realised that I had dropped it."

Erik looked down at her, the rose brought back the pain he had felt that night, he wouldn't blame Christine for it. But the vision of her and that boy had made him want to scream so loud that the entire Paris would hear it.

"So I went back up and retrieved it." That made him smile, during her childish crush she still thought of her Angel.

"It is the only thing that I have had left of you, except my memories."

"And you've kept it all the time? Even before 'Don Juan' and everything?"

"Yes. I pressed to be able to save it." Erik felt how his eyes started to fill with tears again, would she always move him like this? He wouldn't allow himself to tempt fate by asking. He moved his head so his lips touched her temple.

"Thank you" he whispered softly before he opened the book and started to read. His voice felt softer than silk as he read the words she had heard so many times but never got tired of. The fire warmed her and his enfolding arms did too. She felt how her eyelids turned heavy after a while, but she wanted to stay awake and listen to him.

Erik noticed her tiredness and closed the book after finishing a chapter. She moaned in protest as he put the rose on the page where they had stopped and laid it on the bedside table. She reached out her hand to stop him but he took it and brought it to his lips.

"Relax, I'll stay with you till you fall asleep."

"Thank you" she said and laid back again. "Sing for me" she said later and he started to whisper her to sleep with 'the Angel of music'.


	8. Rose

Authors note: Hi thank you for the reviews that I received, it was only two but still thank you. Anyway here is chapter eight and I have stolen one of my favourite quotes from one of my favourite books "Wuthering heights". I have always imagined Christine saying it. Let's see fi you can find it. Love from Snowstar.

-- ----- ----- ----- ---

"Good morning, Miss" Martha said, as cheerful as always when Christine opened her eyes. Erik was gone, but his scent still lingered on the pillow next to her. She turned and buried her face in it, inhaling.

"I fear that the Vicomte will come back for dinner today again, much to your uncle's disliking." Christine sighed, was she going to hide in the attic once more? No, there must be something else.

"I know you're not very fond of him but I must say you're doing very well with pretending not to know him."

"I thought you told me to do so?" Christine said as Martha started to take out the braid, that Erik had made the night before, in her hair.

"I said 'act like nothing' what I meant was for you to ignore the things that had happened in Paris not exactly forgetting the Vicomte too." Christine couldn't help but smile. Maybe she had been a little hard on Raoul, but she would never return to him, the life that would be following with seemed so lifeless and empty.

"I can't do anything about that now, Martha. I simply have to put up with the dinner because I refuse to hide in the attic again."

"Oh, was that you, Miss? The stomping up there was so loud that I thought that mice had turned into elephant's." Christine giggled a little along with the servant and got dressed.

"Oh Martha, I don't know if I can be with Raoul in the same room without feeling somewhat compassionate towards him. I simply can not be that mean."

"Are you saying that you still care for him, Miss? That you love him?"

Christine went over to the balcony and pushed the white curtains aside.

"Love? I can only love him like a brother. But my love for Raoul is like the foliage in the woods, time changes it as winter changes the trees. My love for Erik resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Martha, I am Erik! He's always, always in my mind. Not as a pleasure, any more than I am a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."

Martha sighed and rose from the bed which she had just finished making. "You are not going to waste that love I hope. Keep that for Erik, God knows how he deserves it." Christine nodded and a thought suddenly came to her mind. She wanted to be with Erik so much at that moment that her skin was to only thing that stopped her from going everywhere at once.

"Martha!" Christine said just as the servant-girl was about to leave the room.

"Yes, Miss?"

"You might find this a little obscene or confounding, but since my mother died very early and my father didn't live to meet my teens. I was wondering if you know..." she suddenly blushed and looked down.

"Know what, Miss?" Martha asked with her eyebrows frowning. Christine pulled herself together and asked boldly.

"What happens in the marriage-bed?"

-- ----- ----- ----- ---

The dinner arrived and so did Raoul. Carl, Lena and Christine greeted him and they all sat down. Christine could only hear Raoul's voice during the dinner it was as if he never seized to talk. Christine came to realize that she didn't really know Raoul that well, she knew him as the little boy that fetched her scarf in the sea, but the man in front of her, talking away, was a complete stranger. The realization dawned on her and she felt like crying. She had been so close to marrying this man. She had loved the boy, not the man.

Those month's when Erik hadn't been seen until the masquerade had she spent mostly to herself and it wasn't until a few days before new years eve that she had accepted his proposal, blinded by his good looks and charm and what naïve young girl wouldn't accept that?

She had been so shallow then.

"Christine?"

She was jerked out of her thoughts when heard her aunts voice. "Are you feeling well, dear?"

"Yes, I suppose, I 'm just a little dizzy."

"Maybe you should retire?" her uncle suggested.

"Yes, perhaps" she said and started to rise from her chair.

"Please, let me escort you" Raoul said.

"Oh no, there's no need to..." she started.

"I insist" Raoul said and offered her his arm, when she didn't accept it he grabbed her own arm and hooked it underneath his own.

"Oh by the way. There is a storm coming tonight and I came here on horseback, would it be rude of me to ask you if I could stay here tonight?" he asked.

Lena could hear how her husband growled under his breath and noticed how his fork was impaling a piece of meat on his plate.

"You may" she simply said but the that she had felt before worry was starting to take over her as she saw her niece walk up the stairs with the Vicomte.

"How could you?" Carl asked when they were out of sight. "That boy is nothing to trust, do you remember what happened to Gustave?"

Lena sighed and her shoulders sank. "One night couldn't hurt and no I haven't forgotten."

-- ----- ----- ----- ---

As they reached her room Christine thanked Raoul and was about to open the door when she felt his hand grab her arm and turn her around so her back was pressed against the door. His hand landed over her mouth.

"I don't know what game you are playing, Christine but I am not going to take it anymore, I have been to merciful with you and I know what you are up to." He saw that she was going to talk so his hand over her mouth fell away.

"And what do you mean by saying so, Monsieur le Vicomte?"

"Stop that, you know perfectly well who I am and what my name is and I know that you are hiding something and I warn you, I am going to find out what and destroy it right in front of your eyes."

"We will see" she said with her back straight and eyes forward. "Now will you take your filthy hands away from me or do you want me to do it for you?"

"So cocky? I see that your time away from me and that other animal that corrupted your mind has made your skin thicker, Mademoiselle."

Christine found enough power and pushed him away and entered her room, locking the door.

-- ----- ----- ----- ---

It was midnight and Christine knew she couldn't use the front door to get out now that Raoul was staying over the night and she wanted to see Erik more than anything now. Although she didn't want to admit it, fear had started to slowly crawl it's way inside her.

She called after Martha who came to her room around five minutes later. Explaining her situation, the English lass started to help.

They pulled the sheets from the bed and started tying them together. Christine grabbed her cloak and opened the balcony where they tied the end of the sheet to it. The way down wasn't very far but still high, how had Erik managed to climb up here all by himself? She had no time to think about that. She picked her skirts and took hold of the sheets and started to climb down slowly but surely. Martha was standing at the balcony, holding onto the sheets just in case. When Christine was on the ground safely, Martha started to pull the sheets up again. Christine waved before making her way out into the night.

She pushed the door to the garden open and stepped inside. It was a sweet scent lingering in the air from all the roses. She started to walk over to the ivy-wall and push her way through. There was a light in Erik's bedroom. She smiled, he was still awake like the night-owl that he was. She walked to the door and surprisingly found it open. Stepping in she left her shoes in the hallway and made her way upstairs.

Erik had just emerged from the bathroom and was standing before the swan shaped bed in his black robe that Christine had worn a few nights before and started to put out one of the many candelabras that was burning in the room. He heard a sound and immediately turned around.

He sighed when he saw who it was.

"How did you get in here?"

"The door was open." He only nodded, he saw no reason in locking it since no one was coming here. He looked at Christine again who was starting to remove her cloak.

"Did we make an arrangement to meet?" he asked and raised one of his eyebrows. Christine smiled, he was so handsome standing there with his muscular chest half showing and his dark hair was more free than the strict backcombed style that he used to have.

"No, does everything have to be planned and arranged and scheduled all the time?"

"Apparently not." She started to walk over to him and her hand reached out and stroked his cheek, moving it's way down his throat to his chest were it stopped over his heart, it's beating gave her more joy than anything in the world. She looked up and her eyes met his for a second before her lips met his. Her hand stayed against his heart and she felt how his own arms came around her in a protecting way. Her hand worked it's way down towards the sash in the robe but then he stopped her.

"Wait, Christine, what are you doing." He asked and placed his hands on her shoulders, keeping her an arm length away.

"I'm tired of waiting, Erik. I want you, I lie awake almost every night thinking of you and how I want you with me."

"Angel, I feel the same but don't you want to wait? Is it really me that you want to experience this with?" his heart stopped for a minute, afraid of what her answer would be.

Christine's eyes met his once again. "I wouldn't want it with anybody else. You are the only one I will ever want, Erik, my Angel." Erik didn't knew what to say, his Christine wanted to know the joys of the flesh with him? The happiness that filled his heart was incredible but still he needed to know that she knew what she was giving herself into. Apparently she did because he was roused from his thoughts when he felt her grab one of his hands and place it against her left breast, he could feel how her own heart was beating underneath the soft skin.

He pulled her into his arms and this time the kiss was hungry. Possessive. When she pressed her body to his, wound her arms around his neck, he deepened the kiss, took more. Filled his senses with her.

Her head spun. No one had ever made her feel like this. Had ever touched her like this. Needed her.

"Mine." He murmured it against her mouth. Said it again and again as his lips raced over her face, her throat.

"My beautiful Christine, I love you." He murmured passionately. "I love you too, Angel."

Lightning slashed across the sky as if sealing their words. The world trembled as the rain started pouring down.

He scooped her up in his arms, she squealed in delight as he placed her upon the bed, that very bed that she had slept in the same night when she seen his face for the first time.

"Here is where I dreamed of you in the night. And here is where I will love you for the first time. Flesh to flesh."

He pulled her up on her feet once more. "I won't hurt you, I will only give you pleasure."

"I'm not afraid."

"Then be with me." He said as he cupped her face in his hands and met her lips once more. In dreams he had felt longing and echoes of sensations. Here and now in reality there was so much more.

So gently his mouth devoured hers, warmth and wanting. With patience and tenderness his hands moved over her softly, deftly. When she trembled, he soothed her with murmuring her name and promises. He slid the gown of her shoulders, trailed kisses over the curve of softness, dwelling in the flavour and fragrance. The gown rustle to the floor followed by her corset and chemise. Her cheeks started to blush.

"Let me look at you" he said and stepped back so he could see standing in front of him in all her naked glory. The heat that rose on her skin was more of anticipation than anything else. His gaze finished his journey and he locked eyes with her.

He reached out and caressed her breast, let them both absorb the sensation. He felt her quiver as his hand trailed down. She reached for him, her hands were not so steady as she opened his robe but when she touched him it felt like freedom.

"Christine." He pulled her against him, crushed her mouth with his and lost himself in his needs. She gasped out his name as she felt her breast press up against his smooth chest. When he lifted her again and laid her on the bed, his kiss was long and slow and gentle.

This, she thought, was what the poets wrote of. This was what she had always hoped to find in love. This warmth, this pleasure of another's body against your own. This gift of heart and all the secrets it offered.

He gave her pleasure as he had promised, drowning oceans of it that washed through her in slow waves, but a slight pain followed as her virginal cord broke. She gave to him a taste, a touch, so that the buds burst into bloom and he held fast to the beauty that she offered. When the flames was about to consume them, she welcomed them. Falling through them, she cried his name out. A sound more heavenly than anything Erik had ever heard before.

She heard him moan and his quick whispers as he rose over her and released all the years of withheld passion and desire inside her, screaming her name. Lightning slashed over the sky once more, illuminating the world outside.

Through the candlelight she saw his face, his unmasked face and his eyes. So green now they were like dark jewels. Drowned in love she laid a hand on his cheek and whispered his name.

"Look at me." His breath wanted to tear out of his lungs as her eyes looked up in his own. He took her once more, filled her and gave her joy. She opened for him, rose with him, her eyes swimming over with shocked delight. And with the love he craved like breath. She fell and he plunged after her, with her.

Her body shimmered. She was sure that if the room had been dark it would be glowing. And his was so beautiful, strong, hard an smooth, she thought as she lazily trailed her hand up and down his back with his face resting against her chest. His hearts was thundering against hers like the weather outside. To be under the weight of the man you loved and to feel his heart race for you was fantastic. She was loved, she repeated it to herself a few times. Erik loved her and that was all she needed to know. After Martha's describing about the art of lovemaking Christine had felt somewhat uncomfortable but excited at the same time, the pleasure had been unlike anything. Her body had known it's mate when they had become one, it was a feeling of fulfilling that could only come once. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that is had always been destined to happen and nobody but Erik was the first one she would experience it with.

He started to move from her and heard how she whimpered in protest, he smiled and laid down beside. He pulled her up against him so her face rested against his strong chest. She yawned and smiled as she felt him pull the covers over them. His hand stroked her hair as she started to fall asleep. The candelabras had burned down and the room was dark as the night. Erik couldn't believe what had happened, even in his wildest fantasy he hadn't imagined this. This had been more than he had dared to hope for, it had been everything.

He had never felt such a strong love and respect for something before. His mind drifted back to his days at the fair and how the old gypsy woman had told him that he would find love one day. And now that he had, he valued it more than anything. The rain was still pattering outside as he kissed her temple and fell asleep.


	9. Lilac

_**We used to swim**_

_**The same moonlight waters  
Oceans away from the wakeful day**_

**_My fall will be for you  
My love will be in you _**

_**If you be the one to cut me **_

_**I will bleed forever**_

The rain had stopped its gentle pattering and the moon appeared from behind the clouds.

Erik awoke a couple of hours after sleep had claimed him. It was still night outside but he didn't care, the only thing that occupied his thoughts was the sleeping beauty in his arms who slept with her head pillowed on his shoulder and with her arm across his stomach.

His swollen lips curved upwards, he had never guessed, that in a world like this, there could be a pleasure so exquisite. The knowledge that, after all this time and after everything that he had been through to win her heart, he finally had her was overwhelming.

His finger brushed away one of her curls that had landed across her face. Her face was tired but smiled at the same time as she lay by his side in her naked glory. The cover had slipped down from her shoulders to her hip, leaving very little to his stormy eyes. Fearing that she might grow cold, he pulled the cover up again.

Sleeping was useless, his mind may be at peace but his body was not, e wanted her again. But he couldn't rouse her now when she slept so peacefully. He decided to get up and work away some energy. Dressed in his black trousers and partly unbuttoned white shirt and cloak, he bent down and kissed her rosy cheek which was warm from sleeping.

He walked into the garden. The moon threw its silvery light over it and made the raindrops on all the petals twinkle.

He sat down on the swing, thinking about his latest experience, he didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry out of happiness. He looked up at the sky.

"Don't ever take her away from me again, I can't loose her now" he hissed, as if cursing some demon from his past.

- ---

Christine slowly stretched, with her eyes closed she reached her hand out, searching after her beloved, but she only encountered the red satin sheets. She moaned in disappointment and grabbed Erik's pillow, burying her face in it. She heard footsteps and assumed they were Erik's. She got up and shivered as she felt the cold air brush against her warm body. She felt soreness between her thighs that made her smile. It hadn't been a dream. It had really happened.

She looked out through the window and saw her dark angel make his way through the ivy and into the garden.

She decided to follow him, she picked up her nightgown, put it on and pulled her hands through her tangled hair.

As she entered the garden she saw him, sitting on the swing. She smiled, he looked so much younger surrounded by nature and sitting on a swing.

Erik looked up at the sound of her feet touching the ground, his eyes softened at the sight of her. She was a beauty. His beauty dressed in white. Her face was smiling tenderly as she approached him.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked as she stood in front if him.

"I woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep."

"Really? What distracted you?"

Erik smiled, they had never had these kinds of simple conversations before. He truly felt normal for the first time.

"You."

"Me?"

"Yes, you" he said as he pulled her against him, resting his cheek against her belly. The thought that she might conceive from him tonight didn't distress him. The image of Christine holding a small bundle against her breast made his heart swell.

"Come." He took her hand and made room for her to sit next to him on the swing. He noticed how she winced as she sat down.

"Are you feeling unwell?"

"No, I'm just a little sore, it's natural after the first time."

Concern crossed his face.

"I never meant to harm you…" he never finished his sentence, her finger silenced him gently.

"The result was so wonderful that I would go through it again. And I have no regrets, my Angel."

She replaced her finger with her lips.

"Do you have any idea how tempting you look in the moonlight?" he asked as they parted.

"It makes me want you again."

Before she had time to react he pulled her up from her seat and, in one swift motion, had her straddling him on the swing.

"Erik" she gasped as she felt his lips against her throat. "We can't do it out here" the entire situation felt both exciting and improper.

"Oh but my dearest love, we can."

She was just about to protest when she felt his lips against hers and his hands searching their way down to the hem of her nightgown and then caress her thighs.

"Well, if you say so, Angel"

She felt how his lips searched their way down her throat and down to her chest, where he unbuttoned the top of it, making her breasts visible for his hungry eyes.

She felt a jolt come through her as his mouth took one of her rosebuds and devoured it.

Christine was confounded, how could something so sweet and divine be sinful? She remembered something that one of the girls ha said once in the dormitories, late at night, that made men loose their minds.

She lifted his unmasked face gently from her bosom and sucked his lower lip into her mouth as her hand came between them and unbuttoned his trousers.

She heard him gasp as she found him and shaped her hand around him.

His eyes became wide open as she started to stroke him up and down. Christine smiled at his chock, she had certainly made him loose his mind.

Christine was fascinated. The feeling of him! He was softness and hardness in one combine.

Erik removed her hand before it was too late. He pushed the skirt up and lowered her onto his swelling manhood. Christine cried out, but not from pain but pleasure.

Erik took her legs and wrapped them around his waist. He lowered his feet to the ground and pushed back the swing, letting the ground go again he and Christine swayed through the air of passion.

Christine moaned over and over as she felt him enter her time after time as they swayed. What an incredible feeling!

Erik drove his hips into her as if his life depended on it. If their first time had been fantastic then this surpassed that a hundred times.

One of his hands held onto swing, the other came around her waist.

"You feel so good, my Angel" he whispered in her ear.

Christine felt that she was getting close to her release.

Erik felt how her silky muscles clenched around him. As he swayed backwards one more time and she forwards her entire body shock and her arms came around his neck and her legs hugged his waist tightly.

She threw her head back and screamed out his name.

Erik followed shortly after and felt her name leaving his lips as well.

'Divine exhaustion' he thought as he stopped the swing.

They both breathed heavily, Christine's opened her eyes and looked at his face, his beautiful face!

'How could I have ever been afraid of him?' she wondered.

"I love you" he gasped as he looked into her shining eyes.

"Oh, my Angel! I love you so" she said before he kissed her, his tongue plunging into her mouth.

Erik rose from the swing, with the legs and arms of Christine still wrapped around him, and fell down on the soft grass. She was lying on top of him, he still had his cloak on which she unhooked, spreading it cross the grass.

She crossed her arms on his chest and rested her chin on them, she wanted to remember every tiny detail of his face.

Her mind reflected on their entire history. First the chorus, her debut in "Hannibal", the masquerade and the "Don Juan"-performance. It all seemed so long ago and here they were now, completely smitten with each other. How could she have been so foolish? This was the paradise she had always dreamed of, he was the hero her father had been reading about for her in all her bedtime stories.

She was a woman now, she realised. His, only his. And he was hers, the thought brought tears to her eyes.

Erik noticed how she smiled and how the smile turned to tears.

"What are you thinking of, my love?"

"How happy I am and about the past, a little."

"The past?"

"Yes, mostly the night of "Don Juan", had I only known that you were in love with me."

"What did you think I was?"

"I don't know."

He chuckled, she was still so innocent.

"Well, you did have a strange way of showing it she said and kissed his chin.

"Really?" he smiled "how about now then?" he asked and kissed her. "Sometimes I find it difficult to understand that you love me" he said and stroked her forehead.

"I think I always have."

"What?" he asked. "And you tell me I have a strange way of showing it!" he said with a pretended angry look and threw her off of him, she squealed as he started to tickle her.

"I meant subconsciously" she laughed out. He stopped his tickling and embraced her from behind, bringing her back against his chest, he started kissing her earlobe and buried his face against her neck, kissing her pulsing vein.

"The past can't harm us, love. The past has died and will forever be dead, it is only now that matters" he whispered against her ear.

Authors note: Sorry about the long delay. The little poem in the beginning is lyrics from a song by Nightwish called "Ghost love score" and some genius made a cool video of it with scenes from the 2004 phantom-movie. Check it out: http/ 


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